The Perfect Gift
by Rimlock
Summary: The Elgang will be celebrating Add's birthday for the very first time! However, Elsword, Aisha and Ain are having trouble figuring out what he likes. Will the trio find the perfect gift in time without spoiling the surprise? [Oneshot]


A/N: Hope you enjoy!

11/14/17: Edited

* * *

In Elder Village, most of the Elgang went straight to work on preparing the surprise birthday party since the morning. Ciel, Ara, and Lu are in charge of baking the food. Raven and Rena went to buy birthday supplies. Elesis, Eve and Chung are setting up the location where the party will be held tomorrow. Meanwhile, Elsword, Aisha, and Ain decided to stay behind to solve their most challenging problem yet; finding the perfect gift.

"I must ask, why is it hard finding something for Ancient boy?" Ain, the Erbluhen Emotion, asked them. He casually leaned his back against the wall. Out of everyone, Ain does not care about finding a gift whatsoever.

Elsword is pacing back and forth in the living room, seemingly trying to think. "Add is… How should I describe him? He's hard to figure out?" he replied.

"I'm losing motivation." Aisha pouted. "I don't know much about him besides that he has a knack for sweets and Nasod stuff."

Ain frowns, "Why not ask the others for help?"

The Rune Slayer and Elemental Master groaned out loud.

"I've tried asking my sis, but she was worried that I would copy her gift," Elsword replied. He then gazed away and mumbles, not particularly to anyone. "Though, she wouldn't be wrong…"

Aisha sank herself further into the couch's cushions."My original idea was to give him some chocolate, but Lu and Ciel already beat me to it." she sighed with her face buried in the fabric. "If it weren't for Rena, I could've just searched for some old Nasod scraps in the castle and call it a day."

Ain placed his hand on his chin and narrows his eyebrows. "I don't understand… They used so much energy just to find a present for someone that they're not particularly attached. It's almost pitiful, really." he thought.

Elsword stopped his pacing when a new idea came to his mind. "If we can't figure out what Add would want, then we'll have to ask him ourselves!" he exclaimed.

Aisha quickly stood up from her coach to protest. "Idiot! He would likely catch on!" she proceeds to argue, "It might even ruin the surprise party!"

"Do you have a better plan then?" the boy responded back, sharply.

"No, but I'm saying that none of us should be the one to do it!"

The two gave each other a long battle glare.

"Elsword, Ms. Wizard." Ain breaks them up. "No need to get heated here. If you want to find the perfect gift for Ancient boy, then we should work together."

Aisha twirled her head towards the man, grinning. "Hey, why not let Ain do it?" she suggested.

Elsword's face brightened up. "Hey, that's not a bad idea."

The edge of the angel's mouth slightly twitched upon hearing that. Nonetheless, he managed to keep his smile unfazed.

"They completely ignored what I said, haha..." he muttered. He followed up with a question,

"Me? Why should I?"

"It's simple. Add would never listen to us." Aisha explains, "Not only that, but you probably had the least bone to pick with him compared to us."

Ain froze as his mouth transformed into a neutral frown in just mere seconds. He wouldn't consider himself to be the best option, honestly. Far from it even. Rena would be the perfect person to do the deed, but unfortunately, she is gone to somewhere else.

However…

Aisha and Elsword stare intently at the man as they wait for an answer that will ultimately decide the fate of finding their "perfect" gift.

"...Alright." Ain gave in. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to learn more about Ancient boy after acting distant for so long.

* * *

The priest is standing in front of Add's room door while adjusting a marble-sized walkie-talkie into his right ear.

"Can you hear me alright, Ain?" Elsword's voice emitted from it. The duo is sitting in an empty closet room with headphones and a single microphone.

"All clear."

"Alright! You can start whenever you're ready." the knight gave him the cue.

Ain knocked on the door five times and patiently waited there. A minute passed before the door finally opened up.

Looking quite exhausted, Add raised an eyebrow upon seeing the smiling freak."...What do you want?" he asked rather crudely.

Ain propped up his best smile. "Good afternoon, Ancient boy." he politely greets him. The scientist couldn't help but grimace a little. He can't describe why, but the priest is acting odder than usual.

"When will you stop calling me that?"

"How about Mr. Ancient? Is that better?"

"Whatever. Anyway, why are you here?"

"Well…" Ain begins. "If you don't mind, I want to ask some questions about yourself."

Add blinked twice; his eyebrow raised even higher than before.

"What?" he blurted, "I thought we've agreed to stay out of each other's business."

Ain can already feel a wave of doubt running down his neck. Now he understands why Elsword and Ms. Wizard refused to talk with this guy.

"There's nothing wrong with a person wanting to learn more about his friend, don't you agree?"

The scientist's eyes slightly dropped, giving him a look of aloofness. How obnoxious, he thought.

"Since when did I agreed to be your friend?" Add replied crudely yet again.

That. **That.**

Ain began laughing softly. "Hahaha… Mr. Ancient, have you ever heard of sarcasm before?" he continues, eyes gleaming in grim. "Or has your mind became rusty lately from too much room shut-it?"

The Mastermind's face twisted into bitterness and anger. "You dare to mock me?" he growled at him.

"What are you doing!? Don't make him angry!" Aisha's booming voice cried out in Ain's earpiece.

The priest bit his tongue in displease, regretting his choice of words. "I might have snapped… I need to be more careful with my emotions next time." he thought to himself.

Add grumbled and proceeds to close the door. "Listen, I'm busy right now. If you're not going to say anything worthwhile, I'm going to-"

"Tell him that you're sorry and this won't take long!" the redhead screamed at the top of his lungs. Ain nearly jumped up by the deafeningly loud volume. While placing his hand on his ringing ear, he reaches out towards the door with his other.

"Wait, Mr. Ancient! If you can-"

Add accidentally slams the door onto his fingers. "...!"

Oddly enough, there wasn't an instant painful screaming. Just a brief moment of sheer silence. But eventually, a slow and high-pitched cry erupts out from Ain like a dying cat. Honestly, it gave the three characters the chills just listening to it. They never heard anything like it before.

Add opened the door and finds the poor priest holding onto his fingers.

Worried and slightly scared, Elsword took up the microphone and asks, "Ain, buddy, are you alright?"

"H-Haha... I'm fine. This pain is nothing to someone like me." Ain says with an unfazed smile when in reality, he's trying very hard not to wince. "Nothing is broken. Not even a bruise. See?"

"...Sorry." Add apologized. Geez, just how did he fit his finger through the gap like that?

Quickly recovering, Ain immediately resumed what he wanted to say,

"Ahem… Anyway, Mr. Ancient. If you can give some of your time, I can assure you that this won't take too long." he adds in, "And I'm sorry for what I said to you. It was supposed to be a joke."

Add highly doubted that was a "joke." However, it does sound like he was genuine about his apology at the very least.

"Sure… I'll let that annoyance slide. But I will still not-

Before the white-haired scientist could finish his sentence, a new voice intervened.

"What was that screaming? Was it a frog!?" someone yelled out. A long-eared woman with long ears appeared behind Add. She greets the priest in front of her, "Oh hello, Ain."

"Rena!?" Elsword and Aisha exclaimed at the same time.

They recognize that voice from anywhere. The same demonic voice that scolded them many times before.

"Why hello. It's funny to see you here, Ms. Elf." Ain greeted back. "I'm just here to ask Mr. Ancient some questions about himself."

"How is it going then?" she curiously asked. "If you don't mind, I'd like to hear it too."

Ain nodded. "We haven't started yet. Mr. Ancient, are you ready?"

"Damn, you…" Add silently cursed. Tch… Whatever, fine, he thought.

"Alright, leave it to me." Elsword blurted with enthusiasm. "I'll ask the best one."

Aisha rolled her eyes.

"Go ahead then."

After carefully listening to Elsword, Ain repeats the question back to Add. "What is your number one interest?" he asked.

The scientist took less than a second to answer back. "Kukuku… It's Eve, of course!" his mouth grew into a hysterical smirk.

Rena just stayed silent, of course, unsettled with such a response. Ain just remained indifferent. Well, that was useless and obvious.

The mage snatched away the microphone from Elsword after smacking him on the head.

"What kind of books do you enjoy reading?" Ain asked the next question from Aisha.

"..." Add begins rubbing his forehead with two fingers, looking as if he has a massive headache. "No… don't remind me. There is a reason why I stopped reading any books!"

"What's up with his dumb answers? I don't understand this guy!" Aisha huffed.

"He better not bother Eve again." Elsword lowly remarked.

Right then, Rena raised her hand as if wanting to make a request. "If it's alright, can I ask a personal question too?" she jumped in.

"...I would prefer if yours is the last one." Add told her. For the love of El, he just wants to leave already!

The mage and knight looked at each other after hearing the elf's sudden request. What could it possibly be?

Add stares at the woman, waiting for whatever pathetic question that will throw in his way.

"Um... What is your favorite childhood memory?" she asked.

He blinked. What?

Unlike the last two questions, Add went quiet for a minute to think it over.

"That's…" the Mastermind hesitated, unsure whether or not he should answer it. Would they judge him for it? Heck, since when did he started to become self-conscious?

Honestly, he preferred keeping personal things to himself. He hated when people get too nosy into his own business, but he knew that something like this could be inevitable. Fine.

Add sighed. "...When I was younger, my mother used to have a greenhouse filled with flowers and plants. Being the weak kid that I was… I used to visit her in that greenhouse to seek comfort."

Everyone went silent, surprised that they were even able to hear something about man's past.

"What kind of flowers were they?" The archer asked further

"She raised many different types… I can't remember what most were. White lilies? It doesn't matter anyway because they're probably extinct by now." he replied, his expression changing into an apathetic frown.

Add rubs his forehead with his two fingers and turned away. "Now leave me alone. If you still have any more questions, come back when I'm not busy."

With that, the scientist left the elf and priest alone at the door.

"Add… I wonder if he misses his mother dearly." Rena uttered in sadness.

Ain closed his eyes; his face turned into a sympathetic expression. "Whatever happened to Mr. Ancient's mother, I can assume that it did not have a happy ending."

"It's not good to be dwelling in the past. That is why we're going to celebrate Add's birthday. To show him that we're a family here." Rena smiled, trying to spark a light of hope.

"Yes..." Ain responded, placing his hand under his chin. Maybe there is a significant meaning behind birthday gifts to humans after all. In that case, he would also need to find a gift for him too.

Aisha nudged Elsword on the arm.

"Hey, I was thinking… after hearing Add's story, I have a brilliant idea," she said.

Elsword smirked. "I have one too. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Heh."

The two started whispering to each other about it.

Ain looked at Rena. "Ms. Elf, I thought you were doing errands with Raven?" he inquired.

"Oh, right," she answers. "We finished early, so I decided to come here to help organize Add's stuff as a way to keep him from finding out about the party."

Rena then beckoned him toward her. "By the way Ain, can you come here for a bit?"

"Uh, alright?" Mildly confused, the angel approached the elf.

Without warning, Rena snatched the walkie-talkie right out of his ear. "I figured something was up. Are you two there, Elsword and Aisha?" she held it close to her ear. The two eavesdroppers panicked. "I see, you two were listening to the entire time. Care to explain to me?" Her voice became incredibly icy in the last sentence.

"It isn't anything that you're thinking! You see, we were still stuck on what to give him for tomorrow." Elsword assures her. "So we had Ain to ask him for us!"

"We had just figured it out too. So, please listen to what we have to say." Aisha pleads with her. "I'm sure you're going to like this."

* * *

The next morning, Add found a note lying beside his bed that tells him to follow specific directions on its map. Sketchy? Definitely. Nonetheless, he followed it because his dear Eve signed it. Maybe she finally realized his talents, huhu.

Upon reaching the end of the directions, Add realized that he arrived at what looks like the forest ruins. He continues to walk forward into the clearing until stopping in his tracks.

He was shocked. Right before his eyes is a wide-open field of flowers with a clear cerulean sky. Not only that, but his comrades are standing there too. Several tables are set with delicious looking food and beverages.

"Surprise!" the El Search Party cried out. Popped confetti landed on the scientist's hair as they proceeded to sing the birthday song.

"H-Hold on a second!" the scientist disrupted. Everyone stopped singing.

"What is this? Are all of you out of your minds!?"

Elesis started bursting out laughing. "No silly, this is your birthday party!" she told him.

"As far as we know, we've never celebrated your birthday before. So, here it is," said Raven.

Rena gently placed her hands on Elsword and Aisha's shoulder. "These two spent hours yesterday on trying to find this place. It's a miracle that we were able to move everything here in time," she said.

The young knight propped a toothy grin.

"We had a hunch that you would appreciate this having a party celebrated in a place like this. Honestly, I think it's pretty amazing if I say so myself," he said.

"Consider this as Elsword's and my gift." Aisha proudly states.

Add looked at the flowers below him. Multiple types range from many colors, however, the ones that caught his attention the most were the small white lilies. Right then and there, a nostalgia feeling hits him. It's just like back then...

Add couldn't help but gazed away, flustered. He isn't used to getting treated like this at all or instead, bonding with a group of morons that call themselves a "family." But…

"Not bad… not bad at all." he managed to choke up. "...Th… Thank you all."

* * *

After receiving most of the other gifts and eating his heart out, Add has separated himself from the group to have some quiet time to himself. He lays there on the grass and flowers, quietly reminiscing the happier times.

"There you are, Mr. Ancient."

Great... it's him again, he bitterly thought.

"What do you want?" the scientist groaned as he slowly sat up. He sees the gray-haired man holding something in his hands.

"I'm here to give you my gift," Ain stated. He handed Add a small cactus pot that grows a single red flower. The Mastermind raised an eyebrow, having no idea what his motive is to give him such a thing.

"It's prickly, dry and hard to take care. Just like you." Ain says it in a rather cheerful tone.

Add's eye twitched. "Tsk... Are you mocking me again?" he glared.

"It's a joke. Look, there's even a flower to symbolize our budding friendship, haha." the priest teases. "It is like what they always say, a perfect gift comes from the heart."

"Shut up."

* * *

A/N: I will gladly appreciate constructive feedbacks and reviews~! Thanks for reading!


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